GOP Senators Move to Block Obama’s Gun Ban for Veterans

GOP Senators Move to Block Obama’s Gun Ban for Veterans

Republican Senators are moving to block an Obama gun ban that will otherwise prevent over a quater of a million military veterans from owning guns.

The gun ban for veterans is being handled the same way as Obama’s gun ban for Social Security beneficiaries. Those who cannot manage their own finances are being labeled with a mental health moniker and added to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) as being prohibited from purchasing firearms.

In July 2015 Breitbart News reported that Obama’s gun ban against Veterans had already been administered behind the scenes for an unknown amount of time. TheLos Angeles Timespointed to the example of 30-year-old U.S. Marine Steve Overman. He required help with his finances because of “weakened..memory and cognitive ability” resulting from a roadside bomb in Iraq. The “VA eventually deemed him 100% disabled and after reviewing his case in 2012 declared him incompetent, making his wife his fiduciary.” Because of this, he had to get his guns out of his house–taking them a relative’s home–in order to avoid losing them.

The Hill now reports that “more than 257,000 former members of the military” are facing a similar plight as Overman. Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman

(R-GA) and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) are demanding the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) halt the practice. Isakson and Grassley sent a letter to VA Secretary Robert McDonald, pointing to the way veterans are being added to the NICS prohibited purchasers list, and observing, “The National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) is effectively a national gun ban list and placement on the list precludes the ownership and possession of firearms.”Both Senators pointed out that requiring help with one’s finances has nothing to with the Second Amendment and is “totally unrelated” to whether someone should be prohibited from owning a gun.

Grassley sent a separate letter asking Senate appropriators to “block the VA from continuing this practice in the upcoming budget negotiations.”

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.